One Year...and counting!

On May 26th, C and I celebrated our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful day to reflect on the many life changes we have experienced in the past 12 months. We rejoice in all the Father has allowed us to experience in this past year and look forward to what He has for us in the many, many years to come. Thank you for your thoughts as we continue to learn what it means to truly serve, love, and respect one another as husband and wife.

About 2 hours ago, I dropped C off at the airport for his 2-week European adventure. He will be traveling with 39 incoming 7th graders to Western Europe for an intense soccer camp. His teaching times will only occupy him for an hour each day, so he will have plenty of time to find me an awesome gift. Just kidding! We are asking the Father that he will be able to dive deep into conversation with the new students as well as coaches, team guides, and the other teacher participating in the camp. To be honest, I'm jealously excited for him. Traveling as a team is an incredible way to have immediate connection with people, no matter the cultural or language barriers.

While he is investing in the lives of students abroad, I'll continue digging deeper into my friendships here at home. My friend Holly and I continue to meet on a weekly basis. What a gift she has been! An open door to friendship as well as an inside look into Arab culture and customs. We have very open discussions about family, education, current events, and life goals. Unlike most women in her family and friend circles, she is working on her Master's Degree. Many males in her family disagree with her desire for further education, but her husband is 100% supportive of her decision. Holly only knows of one other lady within her immediate social circle that has a Master's Degree. I encouraged her by sharing about several of my girlfriends who have Master's Degrees and continue to have a healthy marriage. Holly has to travel once a month for classes and has made mention of inviting me along for the weekend getaway. Now that would be a trip! (pun intended)

Besides Holly, I've made several friends through our local fellowship. Now that our Spring study sessions have completed, I've invited several ladies to our home for a wee bit of Chronological storying. This should keep my mind focused during C's travels. I also just received a text (at 12:15AM) from a new South American friend. Meeting and developing friendships with ladies from South America is not something I had anticipated in moving to the Middle East. I knew I should have paid more attention in Spanish class! There are surprisingly many families from South America residing here--think it has something to do with the OIL?? Not only that, but several instructors at the ladies gym where I'm a member, moved here from Spain or South America. No wonder the Latin Combo Aerobics class is such a challenge. This week I'll be connecting 2 South American ladies from the same country together as well as helping a Mexican lady find an English tutor for her daughter.

Thoughtful thoughts:
--THANK Him providing so much for us this year
--for C: rest while away; strength and patience in being with 39 7th grade boys; immediate obedience in whatever Father asks of him within these 2 weeks; joy in serving
--for E: dedication and discipline in preparing 3 stories; open eyes and ears to what the Father will teach me in the next 2 weeks; immediate obedience in whatever the Father asks of me; focus time to write
--for us: use our time apart to strengthen our marriage and our resolve to love and serve within the Middle East

Special Note: We will be returning to the US for 30 days in late summer. We would love to connect with as many of you as possible while we are in your area. Our families know a sketchy schedule of our travel plans and can fill you in when/if we will travel through your city.

Flat Stanley's Visit

I admit that I hesitate in posting these pics for the one reason that I really, really, really, do not need another Flat Stanley arriving in our mailbox. Although it was amusing and at times adventurous to bring the little guy around with us for a few weeks, it's not something we are up to do again. Therefore, if you are a 3rd or 4th grade teacher and need a good Flat Stanley story, feel free to copy, and paste these pics from our city all you want. We are glad we could help out the elementary school in Oklahoma for this project. Hope you kids enjoy!



From Flat to family and friends:
"Hi ya'll! I made it from Oklahoma over to the Middle East without losing any luggage! C & E picked me up and took me to their nice home in the heart of the city where they live. It's awesome to see the blue, blue water here. I think all of the water I see in Oklahoma is kinda brown.
Here's some of the places I've traveled to while being here:
--the camel and sheep souq ('souq' is kinda like a big outside market)
--the main downtown souq
--a work camp
--a local fellowship
--the corniche (not sure what that word means--but it was a super cool water front in the downtown area)
--an Arabic restaurant


Here's some things I've learned that you all should know:
--It's already hot here--hotter than home. I think E told me it was going to be 105 on Sunday. It's only May! Even though it may sprinkle a few minutes in April and May, most rain falls from late December until the end of January.
--I don't have many pictures of women, because most women will not allow me to take a picture with them.

--Although people live in homes and apartments in the city, there are some people that create huge camp grounds in the deserts for weekend getaways.
--All of my favorite fast food places are here! Even Dairy Queen--great land to sell "Blizzard's" in! I guess E doesn't like McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Krispy Kreme, or Hardee's. The only place she took me out to eat was a way cool Arabic restaurant. They have short tables with huge soft cushions around the tables. I got to run around on the cushion with Eli while we waited for our shish tawook (yummy chicken kebab) to arrive. A curtain separated us from the other people eating so we didn't bother other people. It was like having our own little play room. No chicken burgers here kids! They had some sort of chick pea dip (hummus); eggplant dip (m'tabbl); and a green salad with red stuff on it (fattoush with sumac). I wasn't sure I'd like it, but they brought out 2 baskets of hot fresh bread for dipping into the hummus and mtabbl. E and her friend didn't order me a soft drink. Nope. It was a treat to get one of the local fruit drinks. E likes the lemon with mint, while little Eli (my new friend from Arkansas!) likes the mixed fruit drink. They told me that more people order fruit drinks than soft drinks at some places. WOW! That's really different from where I live. What I really liked about eating out was that most people eat with their hands. Boy--won't Mom and Dad be surprised when I tell them that some people really don't use forks, knives, and spoons with their meals.

--In homes, many local people do not use traditional couches, like we do. They have these huge cushions set around the room and a nice rug in the middle of the floor. I had to take off my shoes before going into the rooms, because I didn't want to dirty up the nice carpet. The seating on the floor is called "majliss. Not quite sure how to spell that one. It wasn't on my 4th grade spelling list.


--Buying and selling livestock is done on the outskirts of town. E and Eli's mom took us out there for pictures. It smelled like the rodeos back home, but I've never seen a camel at any of our rodeos! This camel was not very happy about us coming into the cage with him. Check out the picture. Thankfully, E can run quickly because the camel jumped up super quick after our last picture and headed towards us. We were sure thankful to be out of there!

--E plays the piano about once a month for a large group of people while they sing songs. It was so much fun to see people from all over the world come into the same place to sing together. A met a new friend, Serena, from Europe. She likes to sit at the piano with E while she plays.
--I didn't get to go to a local school, but don't worry, we are not the only ones having homework in the world. Kids here go to school just like we do. They work on math, science, languages (Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu, French, German, Spanish, Farsi, etc). Many schools start at 7am and finish at 1pm or 2pm. Mr. C works at special sports academy where all the boys are exceptional athletes. His students arrive before 7am 4 mornings a week to practice their sport. They even stay 2 hours after school 4 days a week to practice again. Some of his students hope to compete in the upcoming Olympics. They are really cool!

--My favorite night was going out to the camp to pass out cookies and treats to workers. These men were very thankful for our gifts and they even took a couple of photos with me. I hope I remember them for a long, long time.
--This city has an awesome waterfront. Eli and I got to go down there for a few pictures before nap time. Sometimes the city will hold boat races for FREE so that everyone can watch. We didn't get to see one this time.
--I tried a new snack here, only because, Mrs. Pam, my teacher back home told me to. Lots of people here eat dates. I thought it was going to be yucky at first, but they are really good. While we were at the souq, they had an entire row of shops just for dates! We bought dates that came from Saudi Arabia. Check out my picture with the man in the 'thobe'. That's the traditional white garment that men wear here. They didn't have one my size or else I would have bought one. Although, I did see many young boys wearing them while we drove around town. The dates? They were delicious! I hope I can get some back to you Mrs. Pam!